Fireproof shutter or curtain.



E. H. MGGLOUD.-

PIREPRGOP SHUTTER 0R CURTAIN.

APPLICATION FILED APR.2@, 1909.

1,083,551 o Patented Jan.6,1914.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.l

EDWARD, H. MGCLQUD, OF COLUMBUS, QHIO, ASSIGNQR '61 THE KINNEAR.MANUEAC- TUBING COMBANY, OF GQLUMBUS, GHIO, A. CQRPOBATIGN 0E WESTVBGINA.

FIREP-RDOJ? SHUTTER 0R CURTAIN.

0 all whom 'it may concern Be it known that I, EDWARD H. MoCLoUD, acitizen of the United States, residing at Columbus, in the county ofFranklin and State of Ohio, have invented a certain new and usefulImprovement in Fireproof Shutters or Curtains, of which the following isa specification.

This invention relatesA more particularly to a fire resisting shutter orcurtain that, upon the occurrence of ire, is automatically released toclose the opening in which it is installed. Such shutters or curtainsarc usually kept wound up within a protecting hood ready todescendautomaticall upon the occurrence of fire; but it is neverthelessquite desirable that they be tested from time to time for the urpose ofassurance of their operation at t e critical moment. Such shutters havebeen made so that they can be tested, but the means have been so locatedas to involve danger and much trouble in their testing.

The object of the present invention is to provide means. whereby such ashutter or curtain can be tested with little trouble and no danger, andthe invention resides in the improved device hereinafter described andclaimedkthe invention not being confined in its practical embodiment toprecisely the details set forth and shown.

In the accompanying drawings in which.v as before indicated, but oneembodiment of the invention is shown: Figure 1 illustrates in frontelevation, the right hand end bracket of a shutter or curtain roller onwhich my invention is applied. Fig. 2 is an elevation of the right handside of what is shown in Fig, 1 Fig. 3 is a view like Fig. 2 with thehood for the roller latching and releasing mechanism removed to exposesaid mechanism. Fig. 4 is. a horizontal section on the line mx Fig. 3.'Fig. 5 is a vertical section on the line g/-1, Fi 1, looking to theleft, but showing in addition to what is shown in Fig. l, the shutter orcurtain channel and the manipulating means for operating the roller andreleasing devices.

Like characters of reference in the several views designatecorresponding parts.

rThe character 6 designates theshutter or curtain roller. It will beunderstood Jthat this roller in practice has attached to its outer sidein a suitable manner, a suitable flexible fire resisting curtain thatcan be Specification of Letters Batent.

Application filed April 26, 1909.

FatentedJan. 6, 1.914.

Serial No. 492,273.

coiled up on the exterior of the roller.

.Where the shutter or curtain is heavy, it is provided, with the usualcounterbalancing sprin as indicated at 7 to prevent its violent 'escentupon the release of the roller.

8 designates a shaft suitably Xed in the end of t e roller and journaledin the end bracket 9. The end of the shaft, 8, extends beyond the outerface of the bracket, and has fixed to it a wheel, 10, havingprojections, 11, on its rim. Pivoted at 12 is one end of a latchinglever, 13. The lever, 13, h as near its middle a projection, 14C,adapted to engage one of theseveral rirojections or teeth, 1/1, of thewheel, 10, and at, its end an anti-friction roller, 15. Below the lever,1,3, in the outer face of the bracketis a stop, 16, adapted to limit thedownward movement of the lever and hold it in a particular posi-- tion.

17 designates another lever pivoted at 18 on the outer face of lthebracket. The levers 13 and 17 are so ivoted that when they are insubstantial alinement and extended toward each other, they lap, thelever 17 lying under the lever 13, andl the lever 17 has a surface, 19,terminating in an abutment, Q0, the said surface, 19, being adapted,when the lever containing it is drawn upward, to. act on the roller, 15,and raise the lever, 13, into position to cause the projection, 14, toengage one of the teeth of the. wheel, 10,v and latch the wheel fromrotation. Attached to the end of the lever, 17, is a flexible member inthe form of a chain` 21. in which is interposed a readily fusible deviceor link, 22, near its point of connection with the lever, 17. Said chainis Passed inward toward the building in which the shutter or curtain isinstalled, thence through a hole, 23, at the lower inner corner of thebracket and finally downward in a vertical recess, 24, in rear of thecurtain or shutter channel 25, next the inner side of the building. Atits lower end the chain is provided'with a rod, 26, that is-passedthrough a vertical hole in a block, Q7, screwed inthe back of the recessby screws, 27a. The block, 27,', has an ordinary set screw, 28, forbinding the rod in the position to which it is drawn down. The outerface of the end bracket, 9, is provided f with a hood or housing, 29,removably se cured by screws, 30, said hood being open at its lower end,but adapted to inclose the aforesaid mechanism on the face of thebracket, and therefore to keep it dry, and prevent the accumulation ofice and snow on it. The face of the hood 29 has a downward extension.29a that laterally incloses the chain 21 and its link 22.

In practice, and normally, the lever, 17, is kept held against thelever, 13, with the latter latchingly engaged with the wheel, 10. If itbe desired to test the operativeness of the curtain or shutter, it isonly necessary to releasethe set screw, 28, and consequently the rod,26, thus liberating the levers, 13 and 17, (which fall by gravity)andthe curtain roller. This operation, it will be observed, may beperformed from the interior of the building and without any danger ofthe descending curtainor shutter striking the operator. Then the shutteror curtain has a counterbalancing spring, it can usually be raised bymerely pushing it up from' the interior of the building, and after thecurtain is pushed up it may be relatched by drawing the chain and roddownward and relooking the rod with the set screw. 28. In drawing downthe rod, it will be understood, of course, that the surface, 19, of thelever, 17, is drawn upward and acts on the roller, 15, so as to raisethe lever, 13, into,position to have itsprojection, 14, extend into thepath of the teeth or projections of the wheel, 10, and to engage one ofthe said teeth or projections, preventing the wheel, and therefore thecurtain roller, from turning.

The device or link, 22, sho-uld be fusible by a dangerous rise oftemperature in the vicinity of the shutter, such as would be occasionedby a nearby fire; and when such a rise of temperature takes place, thelever, 17, falls by gravity and thus automatically, in turn, liberatesthe lever. 13, which also falls by gravity, being impelled a little,perhaps, by the pressing of the inclined surface of the tooth of thewheel. In case of fire, the hood covering the mechanism because it isopen at its lower end gathers or traps heated air and expedites themelting of the fusible link.

What I claim is:

l. In combination with the roller of a fire resisting shutter orcurtainthe axis of which has a permanent position, a movable latchingdevice for the roller and a movable device for moving said latchingdevice to latching position, said latching device and device for movingthe same being positioned when in released position with reference toeach other for immediate action of the former by the latter, andthermally controlled means for operating the latching device movingmeans extending to a point remote from vsaid devices. y

2. In combination with the roller of a lire resisting shutter orcurtain, a lever to latch the roller in the raised position of theshutter or curtain, a second lever fulcrumed to swing against the firstmentioned lever when the latter is in normally released position to movethe same to roller latching position,

resisting shutter or curtain the axis of which has a permanent position,a movable device fory latching thesame'in the raised position of theshutter or curtain, manually operable means extending to a point remotefrom the latching device for releasing the latching device from andrestoring the same to rollerlatching position, and means in connectionwith said manually operable means fusible by a dangerous rise oftemperature for automatically .releasing the latching device from rollerlatching position.

4. In combination with the roller of a ire resisting shuttenor curtain,a lever to latch the roller in the raised position ofthe shutter orcurtain, av second lever fulcrumed to swing in the same plane as the rstmentioned lever swings to engage and actuate said first mentioned leverto move the same to roller latching position, means extending from saidlevers to a point remote from them for operating the levers, and meansfusible by a dangerous rise of temperature for releasing said levers.

5. In combination with the roller of a fire resisting shutter orcurtain, a lever to latch the -roller in the raised position of theshutter or curtain, a second lever fulcrumed to swing in the same planeas the first mentioned lever swings to engage and actuate said firstmentioned lever to move the same to roller latching position, meansextending from said levers to a point remote from them for, operatingthe levers, and means fusible by a dangerous rise of temperature in saidmeans.

6. In combination with the roller of a re resisting shutter or curtain,a lever to latch the roller in the raised position of the Shutter orcurtain, a second lever fulcrumed to swing in the same plane as theirstmentioned lever swings to engage and actuate said first mentionedlever to move the same to roller latching position, a flexible device tooperate said levers extending to a point remote from the levers, and adevice fusible by a dangerous rise of temperature to disconnect saidflexible device from said levers to release the same.

7. In combination with the roller of a fire resisting shutter orcurtain, a gravity lever to latch the roller in the raised position ofthe shutter or curtain, a second gravity lever fulcrumed to swing in thesame plane as the first mentioned lever swings and to actuate the sameand move the same to roller latching position, a flexible deviceconnected with one of said levers and adapted'to cause the operation ofthe other to latch the roller, said ilexible device extending to a pointremote from said levers, and `means for securing said flexible devicewith the roller latched, and a fusible device to release the levers by adangerous rise'of temperature.

8. In combination with the roller of a fire resisting curtain orshutter, a lever to latch the roller,` a second lever located to beoperated to move the first. mentioned lever to roller latching position,means to operate the second lever extending to a point remote therefrom,means fusible by a dangerous rise of temperature to release the levers,and a stop to detain the first mentioned lever after its release inposition to be operated by the second mentioned lever.

9. In combination With the roller of a re resisting shutter or curtain,a device for latching the roller in the raised position of the shutteror curtain, thermally controlled means for releasing the same, a housinglocated above and laterally inclosing said thermally cont-rolled meansfor trapping heated air, said controlled means extending through'thehousing to a point remote from the latching device.

10. In combination with the roller of a latchingthe roller in the raisedposition of the shutter or curtain, a housing to inclose said latchingdevice, said housing also adapted to trap heated air, and flexible meansextending to a point remote from the latching device for releasing andresetting said latching device Without removing the cover.

11. ln combination with the roller of a lire resisting shutter orcurtain, a device for latching the roller in the raised position of theshutter orcurtain consisting of a pair of levers, one to operate on theother, and one serving as the latching means, an anti-friction roller onone of said levers between their points of Contact and means forreleasing and resetting said latching means.

12. ln combination With a" re resisting shutter or curtain, a latchingdevice for holding the shutter in raised position, a link fusible by adangerous risevof temperature for releasing said latching device, and ahousing extending below said link for trapping heated air.

EDWARD H. MCCLOUD.

Witnesses ALBERT RUSH, ANNA TEREsA KING.

